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Manchester strides forward to greet visitors with a confident handshake.

As the third most-visited city in the U.K. by foreign travellers, after London and Edinburgh, it has a lot to boast about.

This northern market town secured its place in the history books when it gave birth to the industrial revolution. By the end of the 19th-century, Manchester's textile mills were king and a population explosion had transformed the city.

My address in this now cosmopolitan destination was the Midland Hotel, a historic building that opened to great success in 1903. It's where Rolls met Royce, where Churchill blew out his birthday candles. The Queen Mum was the first crowned head of England to eat in a public restaurant when she dined at the Midland in 1959. And the Sultan of Zanzibar arrived with a huge entourage and made two of his bodyguards sleep in the hall outside his door each night.

Owned now by QHotels, modern guests still enter up the broad stone steps into an elegant, spacious foyer with a checkerboard floor. The French -- with Michelin-star chef Simon Rogan at the helm -- is the largest dining room. Back in the day, the Beatles were refused entry because they were considered too scruffy, but Posh and Becks describe the Midland as their favourite U.K. hotel, partially because they had their first official date at The French. This 312-room hotel on Peter St. is close to much of what Manchester has on offer.

Go out and have a wander around the handsome main streets. Or jump on one of the free colour-coded Metroshuttle buses that will take you 'round the city centre. To get a little further out, for a small fee, there's the Metrolink tram. Or you could hail a cab to get to the waterfront. A friendly service, StreetCars, whisked us around many times.

We left the grand interior of the Midland to head north towards Albert Square and the Town Hall. Filming was set to begin on a new Frankenstein movie and the Victorian neo-Gothic Town Hall, dating from 1877, certainly looked like the perfect backdrop for the doctor's machinations. We didn't see Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe (who plays the assistant Igor), but we kept a lookout.

Our tour was enhanced by the enthusiastic and detailed commentary of Jean Bailo, who works with Manchester Guided Tours.

Bailo walked us along upscale King St., where we sought out the luxe Vivienne Westwood clothing shop, a pleasure just to stand in. Further along, there's the quality department store House of Fraser and the Barton Arcade with its really lovely balconies.

A few more gawking steps took us to Exchange Square and immense Manchester Arndale, and by then we were fully cloaked in a shopping paradise. However, before you run gleefully into Selfridges and imagine yourself at the checkout with an exquisite purse or top-tier watch, let's open up the history books again.

A terrible price was paid in Arndale in June 1996 when an IRA bomb exploded just as the retail area was opening up for the day. While 212 people were injured, thankfully, there were no fatalities -- some 80,000 folks had been evacuated in time.

A couple of historic pubs that escaped the full brunt of the blast were moved to nearby Shambles Square. Do pay them a visit. The delightful Tudor-style Old Wellington Inn is not to be missed.

A red mailbox very near the bomb-site also survived undamaged now wears a plaque noting its stamina. Keep calm and carry on?

We paused in the late afternoon to fortify ourselves at Teacup cafe, a laidback foodie favourite on Thomas St. in the arty Northern Quarter. We relaxed over pistachio cake and a heart-shaped scone with clotted cream and jam, but it was the tea that was the celebrity at the table. Some of us were intrigued by Energise Your Eyes, a tonic tea made with bilberry and eyebright -- perfect for a long day's sightseeing.

OUT AND ABOUT

-- If history's your thing, there's much more to be found in Manchester including the award-winning Imperial War Museum North (IWM North) down at The Quays. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind (also responsible for the Crystal entrance of our ROM), the museum focuses on how conflict shapes lives. See iwm.org.uk/north (free entry).

-- Enjoy arts, theatre, dance? The waterfront also houses MediaCityUK and The Lowry.

-- Step into John Rylands Library on Deansgate. Besides being simply beautiful, the library (one of five historical libraries in Manchester) offers a host of creative family friendly activities (wanna build a castle?) alongside its academic treasures. One of the highlights when we were there was an exhibit called Bus Stop Stories. Photographer John Shinnick interacted with everyday Mancunians as they waited at his local bus stop. A brief chat, a quick snap and revealing, personal moments were captured. See library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands.